[Big-Gun]

Found this on another site. Sounds like solid advice and is similiar to what we have done.

http://seasonedcitizenprepper.com/feed-a-family-of-4-for-1-year-for-less-than-300/

Your opinion?

 

[MTShawn]

Oh c'mon. I am not even going to poke holes in this. I have been there. So have few other members. Anyone can store carbs and calories. Appetite fatigue and other issues are at play. A simple search would have brought this up.

 

[Mels thinkingitover]

Well, math games are my thing so I'll play.

This list shows 90 pounds of rice for a year for 4 people. That breaks down to 22.5 pounds per person per year. Further breaking it down by day it will give each person just under 1/16 cup of rice per day.

For beans, barley and lentils totaled together the list shows 77 pounds for a year for 4 people. Breaking it down it comes to 19.25 pounds per person for the year. That further breaks down to right at 1/20 of a cup per person per day.

Even the recipe you are somehow supposed to exist on for a year only calculates out that you will have enough rice for 180 days and enough beans/barley for 154 days.

IF the one additional bucket which is included in the count, but not included in the price, was all oatmeal you would have enough oatmeal for everyone to have about 2 teaspoons per day per person. Their instructions, however, show taking that one bucket and dividing it between cornbread mix (which by the way does NOT store well long term), oatmeal, beef jerky, vienna sausage, and dry onions in unspecified quantities. It also shows that bucket will have 10 pounds of jelly beans. I couldn't figure out the jelly beans at first but I'm thinking you'd want to melt them and put them in the awful oatmeal because there were no provisions for powdered milk, sugar, salt, etc.

I won't even go into the nutrition deficits in this plan. They are many and glaring.

To be fair those were dry measurements. Once cooked and hydrated, the measurements would give you almost 1/4 cup rice a day per person and 1/5 cup of beans a day per person.
Assuming you could get half your 8th bucket filled with oatmeal you would have about 1 2/3 teaspoons per day. You'd get about an 1/2 ounce of meat a week if that much. (In case measurements aren't your thing, 1/2 ounce is about 1 measuring tablespoon.) Jelly beans are in abundance however. You'd get 2 2/3 jelly beans a day per person.:xeye:

Summary:
Per day servings, Cooked volume: NOTE: not per meal, but per DAY
1/4 cup rice
1/5 cup beans
1 2/3 teaspoons oatmeal
3/4 teaspoon meat
2 2/3 jelly beans

I don't know about you but it seems to me that the point of being prepared is so you don't have to feed your children less than a meal a day. Just something to think about.

BTW, this posting was on that blog on 2/27/2013. I withrew my email from their list the next day due to that post. It is BAD news.

 

[Trux McCloud]

Found this on another site. Sounds like solid advice and is similiar to what we have done.

http://seasonedcitizenprepper.com/feed-a-family-of-4-for-1-year-for-less-than-300/

Your opinion?

I think it's a perfectly fine starting point, especially for someone just beginning to prep who's feeling overwhelmed. Thanks for the link.

 

[Mels thinkingitover]

I think it's a perfectly fine starting point, especially for someone just beginning to prep who's feeling overwhelmed. Thanks for the link.

Overwhelmed is a MUCH better feeling than deep abiding hunger and watching your children starve. Just something to think about. That list is false advertising and false hope and just plain wrong for a site supposedly about prepping to post.

 

[MTShawn]

Overwhelmed is a MUCH better feeling than deep abiding hunger and watching your children starve. Just something to think about. That list is false advertising and false hope and just plain wrong for a site supposedly about prepping to post.

This is pure truth. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Trux McCloud]

Overwhelmed is a MUCH better feeling than deep abiding hunger and watching your children starve. Just something to think about. That list is false advertising and false hope and just plain wrong for a site supposedly about prepping to post.

Yeah, I wasn't disagreeing with your math- just saying that it's not a bad place to start. I personally don't think there is a bad way to start. Any preps is better than no preps.

 

[Mels thinkingitover]

Yeah, I wasn't disagreeing with your math- just saying that it's not a bad place to start. I personally don't think there is a bad way to start. Any preps is better than no preps.

You are right. Every single thing anyone does to make their family more self-sufficient means one less thing they will have to do without or beg for from someone else.

The scary part is new preppers who see these titles and instructions and aren't experienced enough to take it apart and see what it really provides. They get 8 buckets, $300 worth of food and think they are set so they can go back to blowing their money on pizza twice a week.

I'd feel awful if the "Post-SHTF Newspaper" showed a list of people who starved to death and I knew it was someone from here who could have avoided that with just a little information.

 

[MTShawn]

I really don't want to bump my post but, Look guys/gals. I lived a good part of a year on preps. It is in my signature below. I give a list and it gets more detailed as the thread runs along. Take the half hour to read it ALL. Lots of great input and lots of good info. You will see what Mels and even my smart ass post meant. Storing food is much more than buckets and Mountain House. MikeK lived on MH for a year and barely made it. The basics buy you a few months,it is not complete nutrition.....
Yes, it is more than nothing and actually cheap but, it is sorely lacking in many ways.

Shawn

 

[Trux McCloud]

Look, everybody has to start somewhere. I've learned so much from both of ya'll (MTS, your "Year On Preps" thread is probably my favorite of this whole forum), so if you actually think a post like this does more harm than good, then I'll to defer to you, but I'm just not seeing it.

 

[MTShawn]

I see no harm and that is certainly not what I meant. And having that 'mix' is better than nothing. I just think more can be done for the same amount of money and ensuring balanced nutrition. Just because the bucket in the OP is not balanced. I want my family to thrive, no matter what.... and this includes any SHTF scenario.

 

[Meat Guy]

Thanks for sharing.
My in-laws used to go south in the winter in their off-grid camper.
They started with several hundred lbs. of potatoes, oatmeal, and pinto beans.
That covered much of their food expense.
There is a lot to learn about how to reduce food costs.

Check out "365 Meals" on YouTube by K. Mikesell

 

[yappat]

I think it's actually a pretty good post. Nowhere in the article does the author say this is all you ever need to prep. The very first sentence says "This plan is THE fastest, cheapest and easiest way to start a food storage program." Notice the word "start". I think sometimes people who are further along in the process forget what it's like to get started. It even says to make the soup ahead of time and eat it until it's gone to get an idea of what it's like and what other things you might want to store.

 

[goose3]

Look, everybody has to start somewhere. I've learned so much from both of ya'll (MTS, your "Year On Preps" thread is probably my favorite of this whole forum), so if you actually think a post like this does more harm than good, then I'll to defer to you, but I'm just not seeing it.

The problem, Trux, is that the subject title is absolutely false.

While part of me says "buyer beware" are great words to live by and any newbie prepper who relies on something like this without thinking for themselves deserves what they get, the other part says that a site like this has great value *because* it's a place where those newbies can get information with which to think for themselves.

MTShawn and Mel's and the others are absolutely correct. There's appetite or menu fatigue; the math isn't close to adding up; it's not nutritionally-balanced. Would it be better than nothing? Sure, but if it prevents people from doing effective long-term prepping, then it may do much more harm than good.

That source is not only a joke, it's hugely incorrect---anyone following its instructions who thinks they're stocking food for a year would be in for a shock about one month into using those stocks.

And appetite fatigue--menu fatigue--is a major issue. It's counterintuitive, but it's true. You must have sufficient variety. That's why two 5-gallon buckets I've prepped are filled entirely with spices.

PS: Appreciate the OP's effort in contributing, even though there is disagreement as to its value.

 

[PalmettoTree]

What you need:

8 5-gallon buckets

8 large Mylar bags

8 2,000 cc oxygen absorbers

8 gamma lids

A handful of bay leaves

90 lbs. of white rice

22 lbs. of kidney beans

22 lbs. of barley

22 lbs. of yellow lentils

5.5 lbs. of split green peas

5.5 lbs. of garbanzo beans



1 lb. of salt

A big box of beef and chicken bouillon.

A measuring cup


Try to do better than just a link. Tell us yow long you have been on this diet so far.

 

[goose3]

What you need:

8 5-gallon buckets

8 large Mylar bags

8 2,000 cc oxygen absorbers

8 gamma lids

A handful of bay leaves

<snip>

You can tell how old this advice is (though the date on the source is 2013) by the use of the "bay leaves" advice.

That's very old advice, originally promulgated by people concerned about bugs getting into their food supplies; the bay leaves are supposed to prevent that because supposedly the bugs don't like it.

The modern way is simply O2 absorbers. There are no bugs that can eat your food which can operate in an oxygen-free environment, which is what the O2 absorbers produce. Besides, stored in mylar inside a sealed bucket, how can bugs even get in?

 

[Prepping]

Found this on another site. Sounds like solid advice and is similiar to what we have done.

http://seasonedcitizenprepper.com/feed-a-family-of-4-for-1-year-for-less-than-300/

Your opinion?

My opinion?

The author of the article is moronic, with no understanding of calorie or nutritional requirements or else is a liar in promising that formula will feed a family of four for a year. You can run the numbers for the caloric requirements per person for a year compared to what's available in that list, or simply take a look at that soup recipe's ingredients, run the calorie count and then realize the author intends that miniscule amount of calories for two days.*

It won't a sustain a family of four, or even two!

An experienced prepper would quickly see it's so grossly deficient in calories and terribly inadequate in vitamins that forced laborers during World War II and Federals held in Andersonville wouldn't trade what little they had for it, as they'd die sooner.

This isn't a good start or basis for preparedness, it's false confidence in starvation level supplies, not even slow starvation' but gross deficiency starvation.


Place for a pepper to start? Heck no, it's a recipe for disaster, a formula for failure or whatever phrase conveys it's worse than worthless. It's very bad information. Very deceptive.




Learn about caloric requirements, then check out staples and then figure out how best to supplement fats, vitamins and minerals to the carbos like wheat berries, oats, maize, and rice, the proteins of the beans of wheat, and the nominal nutrition of the staples in general.



*I especially love this part:

Add 6-7 quarts of water. Add bouillon or salt to taste. Then add any other meats, vegetables, potatoes or seasonings you have on hand. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for two hours. You should have enough to feed 4 people for two days. This is thick and hearty. You will be warm on the inside and full with one large bowl. Kids usually eat half a bowl.

Well, gee...you can have a prime rib and lobster, with a side salad dinner for a buck based on this plan. Just pay $1 for a side salad at McDonalds and add any prime rib and lobster you have on hand.

 

[Prepping]

You can tell how old this advice is (though the date on the source is 2013) by the use of the "bay leaves" advice.

That's very old advice, originally promulgated by people concerned about bugs getting into their food supplies; the bay leaves are supposed to prevent that because supposedly the bugs don't like it.

The modern way is simply O2 absorbers. There are no bugs that can eat your food which can operate in an oxygen-free environment, which is what the O2 absorbers produce. Besides, stored in mylar inside a sealed bucket, how can bugs even get in?

I reread it.

You do realize that bay leaves are widely used in cooking, especially in soups and stews, right?

Oddly, it's not included in that recipe.

 

[goose3]

I reread it.

You do realize that bay leaves are widely used in cooking, especially in soups and stews, right?

Oddly, it's not included in that recipe.

Oh, sure. My mother used to toss bay leaves in soups and stews, and in pot roast types of meals.

But would you want to have bay leaves in everything? Nah.


When I started prepping 5 years ago, I read everything I could find on the web related to food storage, nutrition, etc. etc. The use of bay leaves in LTS was not uncommon at all in some of the older pieces online. Today, you almost never see it--we sure don't here on SB--but it pops up from time to time in older stuff people quote.

 

[Single Tree]

I see no harm and that is certainly not what I meant. And having that 'mix' is better than nothing. I just think more can be done for the same amount of money and ensuring balanced nutrition. Just because the bucket in the OP is not balanced. It is set to sustain.... not thrive. I want my family to thrive, no matter what and this includes any SHTF scenario.

I have to agree with MTShawn here. My family also lived off our preps a few times, and luckily we didn't have to go beyond 6 months. It was hard, but we were well supplied in the basics and little kids don't expect much as long as you can give them a treat now and then. However, for the adults cycling through the same basic meals about once every 10 days is hard.

To use this as your only prep will not only give you meal fatigue but also leave you unable to function do to the lack of nutritional value. I can see this lasting a family of 4 about 1 month if they really stretched things out like the salt and the jelly beans. Maybe less if the kids are teenage boys...